MADRID – Scores of protesters demonstrated against Formula One cars racing through the heart of Barcelona on Wednesday, claiming such events turned the city into “a theme park”. About 100 grassroots groups staged the protest as the cars drove along the city’s most exclusive street, Passeig de Gracia, on a short track taking in surrounding roads. The rally comes after protesters clashed with police outside the Louis Vuitton fashion show held last month in Parc Güell , a Unesco World Heritage Site designed by Antoni Gaudi.
A Barcelona resident named Robert posted a picture of Parc Güell on social media platform X and wrote: “Between this and F1 on Passeig de Gracia it is clear that [city mayor] Jaume Collboni wants to turn Barcelona into a theme park. “And you don’t have to, we already have Madrid for that. How delusional are those who thought that we would do better with Collboni than with [former mayor Ada] Colau.
” Mr Collboni, the Socialist mayor of Barcelona who has held the post for a year, is expected to bring in a more business-friendly administration than that of Ms Colau, a far-left politician who cracked down on tourism . Read Next Mallorca protesters jeer and shout at tourists to leave popular beach Cycling clubs, a left-wing political party, sporting groups and the Federation of Neighbourhood Associations of Barcelona organised the protest “against the privatisation of the public space just to benefit tourism lobbies”. “Barcelona should no .